Offer customer-focused reasons vs. “It’s our policy”

For months, my youngest son has been saving for a new set of skis. Given the instant gratification culture we’re surrounded by, its a good thing to watch a kid save his shekels for a few months for something he really wants.

The timing is good for him to reach his goal, as we’ve gotten over 5 feet of snow on the mountain in the last 7 days. Skiers and snowboard riders are in heaven around here.

On Saturday, it was payday. He finally went to pick up his new skis (Elan something – you can tell I’m not a ski geek). He took them to a local ski house to get bindings mounted and fitted to his (also new) vacuum-fitted boots. The store is known for having an expert repair staff and this sort of work is critical to safely enjoying a pair of skis.

So he drops off the skis and asks if he can have them the next day. No problem, they say.

“No problem”

When he calls, they aren’t ready and in fact, it turns out they haven’t been started because the experts forgot to ask for details like weight and skier skill level – important factors in setting up bindings. He’s a patient kid (not sure where he got that from) so 90 minutes later, he goes to pick them up only to be told that he can’t have them.

Why?Â Because he’s not 18.Â

He can’t enter into a legal contract because he’s a minor. The contract? A likely unenforceable “legal document” aka waiver of liability for injuries that might occur as a result of some problem with the repair/binding installation.Â

Until a parent signs the waiver, his skis are held hostage.Â

Because of that little detail, a parent (that’s me) has to stop what they’re doing and drive 25 minutes each way to the store to sign a piece of paper that is more than likely unenforceable. Why unenforceable? Because if someone has valid cause to sue and an expert can prove the binding install (for example) was the cause of an accident, this 5×9 piece of paper isn’t going to make much difference.Â

Oddly enough, my son doesn’t have to get a signature to buy the skis. He doesn’t have to get a signature to buy boots, poles or bindings either. But he does have to get a signature if someone installs the bindings onto the skis for him.

It’s just our policy

When my son calls me to get his skis out of purgatory, I ask him to put the store guy on the phone.

When I question the ski shop guy, I get comments like “I just do the work” and “Its just our policy”.

Do I care if he just does the work? Do I care that “its just our policy”? Not even.Â When your staff answers questions like this – do your clients care?Â

I’m not asking him why I have to sign the paper. I know that’s just something the store’s legal team cooked up because the industry advises they do so and I just have to tolerate it.Â

I’m asking the ski repair guy why the store think it’s ok to take a kid’s money when they know the kid can’t consummate the sale and take delivery of their product.

I’m also asking them why they aren’t informing their customer at the time of the sale that picking up this item will require a parent signature. Telling them at that time, and perhaps sending them home with a form to allow for future pickups might prevent future customer service issues like this.Â

Instead, I get nothing but policy speak.Â Bleah.

Making it better

What would have been better? Something like this:

“We require a parent signature because our management feels that most parents would want to know about purchases and repairs that have a potential to impact their child’s safety and experience on the slopes. While our legal team has their own reasons, we feel it’s important that parents are aware when we are selling certain items to their children. If you want to avoid this in the future, we’ve created an option for parents who don’t need at-purchase-time notification for each purchase. We started this program for our expert skiers and snowboard riders, like local world class snowboard rider Tanner Hall. If you trust the expertise of your kids, you can sign this special form that lets them get bindings and repairs done without parental interruption. The cool thing is that you still get a postcard in the mail each time they make a purchase covered by the agreement, so you know what’s going on.”

That’s what would have been better.Â

Look, every customer realizes that businesses have to protect themselves, but they don’t have to care.Â

Train your staff to communicate things in customer-centric reasoning, rather than “corporate legal” policy statements. That’s what the paperwork is for. Your staff is there to create and improve upon the relationship you have with your clients, not to spout policy.

So much for that day on the slopes

Going back to what happened with the store…By the time I drop what I’m doing and drive 25 minutes to the store to sign the waiver, it’s not even worth making the trip to the mountain because the lifts on the advanced slopes close at 3pm. What kind of taste does that leave in a customer’s mouth? My son spends more money at this store than I do. Far more:)

Bottom line: Make it easy to do business with your company. If you have policies in place that might be misunderstood by your clients or that might inconvenience them, explain them before they cause a problem and find ways to avoid the inconvenience altogether. This entire episode could have been avoided without reducing the company’s legal protection.

One reply on “Offer customer-focused reasons vs. “It’s our policy””

Mark:
You are always so dead right on!! Had a similar incident at the credit union the other day – couldn’t even fault a “big bank” – it was a local credit union!

I am always reminded of a great line by Dale Dauten from years ago. He advised that every time you are tempted to say, “Sorry, that’s our policy,” that you add the word “Grandma” to the end of that – that we imagine facing our dear grandmother and saying the words, “Sorry, that’s our policy, Grandma!”

The gal who used to head our “Office of Customer Joy” (and has since moved 1/2 continent away) told me just last week that she still thinks of the word “Grandma” every time she is told “That’s our policy.”

Thanks for a great approach to what to do instead. If only all businesses could remember, “It’s not about you – it’s about the customer!”
Hildy